Wednesday, April 24, 2013

In addition to the historic
birth and death records, there are now tax lists available to all Tennesseans
via the Tennessee Electronic Library.

Tennessee
Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895

This
database contains early tax lists from 71 of the 95 counties in Tennessee.
Tennessee law did not require that tax lists be kept permanently, so many of
the early records have been destroyed. In 1836 many counties sent a copy of
their tax lists to the state Treasurer, and most of those have been preserved
in the State Library and Archives. The database contains many tax lists for
some counties, and just one or two tax lists for others.

The
Tennessee tax lists included in this database typically list the names of white
males over age 21 and will sometimes provide information about that person's
land, slaves, and other property. They also include valuations. They can be
useful both for locating an ancestor and providing an idea about his
circumstances. Records available vary by county and year.

You
can find this new addition to the Tennessee
Records under the Genealogy tab on the TEL
website. Remember that while other Ancestry.com resources require a
subscription, these records are free for all Tennesseans. You will need to
create a free guest account--watch
this video for more information.